By Kingston Magare 11.10.2025
Husband killer Maryam Sanda is among the list of 157 convicted felons who were either pardon or had their sentences commuted by President Bola Tinubu.
Maryam Sanda gained national notoriety in 2017 for stabbing her sleeping husband Bilyaminu Bello to death following a domestic dispute. In January 2020, Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court found Sanda guilty of murder and sentenced her to death by hanging. All her efforts to beat the rap going all the way to the Supreme Court failed to free her from the homicide.
Sanda, 37, before the reprieve came her way, has spent six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre. According to presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, said her family pleaded for her release in the best interest of her two children.
“Besides the plea was also anchored on her good conduct in jail, her remorse, and her embracement of a new lifestyle, demonstrating her commitment to being a model prisoner,” said Onanuga.
The recommendations for clemency were made by the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by Attorney-General and Justice Minister Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi.
The pardons also included posthumous recognition for prominent historical figures including nationalist Sir Herbert Macaulay and the Ogoni Nine, including Ken Saro Wiwa, which were deemed historic injustices.
Maryam Sanda and her husband.